Money Can’t Buy Me Love

Loving money doesn’t bode well for loving relationships.

A recent study by researchers at Brigham Young University has discovered that couples who place a high priority on money and material possessions are less happy than those who believe money and material possessions are not important. The study was conducted among 1734 couples across the United States, and uncovered that couples who did not feel money and possessions were important scored approximately 10% to 15% higher on marriage stability and other relationship measures, when compared to those who did.

The study also found that while many of those who valued money and material possessions were economically better off, money was a frequent source of conflict for them.

Apparently, couples who place a high priority on money and possessions are also less effective at communicating, struggle more with conflict in their relationships, and are less responsive to each other.

As someone who has been married for 30 years, I would have to agree with these findings.

Money has been at the root of most of the conflict my husband and I have had over the years. The years we put becoming financially free at the top of our priority list were hard on our relationship. Thankfully, our relationship was strong enough, and we were committed enough, to weather through it. And now that making more money is not our top priority, our relationship is much stronger, we argue less, and we’re happier.

The bottom-line? Researchers say it appears that materialism has an eroding effect on relationships. A good reason to step back and think about what’s most important if you want to live a happy life, and share it with someone.